Essential Holiday SpicesGuarantee Great-Tasting Holiday Dishes with the “Essential Eight”McCormick "Menu Math" Reveals Eight Spices Flavor More Than 180 Holiday Favorites HUNT VALLEY, MD (October 23, 2007)
With the holidays just around the corner, home cooks should be sure to have eight essential spices on-hand, according to an analysis of holiday favorite recipes by McCormick, the world’s leading spice company.
The McCormick Kitchens found these eight essential spices are key to more than 180 holiday recipes that will be prepared in kitchens across America between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day.
Allspice - Cinnamon - Clove - Ginger
Nutmeg - Sage - Vanilla - Poultry seasoning "We looked at traditional favorites for the holidays and found that these eight ingredients really are the building blocks for all your meal occasions," said Laurie Harrsen, Director of Consumer Communications at McCormick. "It's a good idea now - before the holiday crunch - to be sure your pantry is properly stocked, so you don't come up short when you're putting together your Thanksgiving turkey, pumpkin pie or sugar cookies." McCormick’s "menu math" reveals that cinnamon tops the list, showing up in more than 40 recipes, from sweet potatoes, to glazed ham to French toast. Nutmeg is another holiday hero, the key to a perfect eggnog or butternut squash soup. And, nothing says it’s the holidays more than homemade gingerbread, making ginger a must-have for the season.
Home cooks can enjoy entertaining this holiday season with delicious recipes featuring these essential eight spices. For a spectacular starter, try the Holiday Pomegranate and Orange Salad. It combines allspice and cinnamon with the sweet, tart flavor of pomegranate juice for a special vinaigrette. Savory Herb Rub Roasted Turkey features poultry seasoning and nutmeg with other spices to season the turkey inside and out. And, Overnight French Toast makes an easy and indulgent New Year’s Day brunch. These are just a few of the holiday recipes available at www.mccormick.com.
Give the Gift of FlavorThis holiday season, McCormick presents two delicious ways to give the gift of flavor: • The Holiday Essentials Kit: The “Holiday Essentials” gift pack features allspice, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, sage and poultry seasoning. A set of stainless steel measuring spoons and cups completes the gift set, making it easy and stylish to measure spices and ingredients. It is beautifully packaged in McCormick’s signature green box and hand-tied with an antique gold ribbon.
• A New Cookbook: McCormick introduces Cooking with Flavor, a new hardcover cookbook that brings basic recipes to life by adding a dash of spice or seasoning. This instant kitchen classic gives cooks of all levels the recipes for success, offering more than 100 delicious dishes and mouth-watering food photography. The book retails for $24.95. Visit www.mccormick.com to buy Cooking with Flavor or to enter to win one for yourself as part of the Book a Day Giveaway (November 15 – December 20).
About McCormick
With an extensive network of researchers, trend experts, chefs, home economist, food technologists, and sensory analysts, McCormick & Company, Inc. keeps its finger on the pulse of flavor. McCormick was founded in 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland. Today it is the largest spice company in the world. McCormick sources only the finest ingredients from around the globe to bring the highest quality flavors to consumers. For more information, visit McCormick online at www.mccormick.com, or call 1-800-MEAL-TIP (1-800-632-5847).
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